


Halloween but make it atla

by radioactive_raccoon_hidari



Series: ATLA brain rot [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Gen, Halloween Costumes, post-therapy azula, spirited away is popular in the fire nation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:41:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27133345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radioactive_raccoon_hidari/pseuds/radioactive_raccoon_hidari
Summary: Aang: do y'all celebrate halloween?Everyone: ????Aang: oh nvm, air nomad thing, i guessZuko, dropping everything: we will now be celebrating halloween in the palace
Series: ATLA brain rot [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916578
Comments: 3
Kudos: 95





	Halloween but make it atla

**Author's Note:**

> This is G rated but Toph says the fuck word.

Aang looks up from where he’s attaching little keychains to his bison whistle. “Do you guys celebrate Halloween?”

The familiar faces of team avatar turn to look at him from different spots in Lord Zuko’s comfortable study.

“Hello what?” Sokka asks, stopping his fiddling with some newly invented device. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh… nevermind,” Aang says, looking a little downcast. “It’s something the Air Nomads used to celebrate, I guess.”

Zuko immediately pushes aside the papers he’s working on and pulls out a fresh scroll over his polished wooden desk. “Tell me everything about it. I want to record it, and celebrate it, if we can. Spare no details.”

“I-I don’t remember that much about the history and traditions,” Aang replies, furrowing his brow. “When you’re a kid it’s mostly about fun.”

“That’s okay,” Katara reassures him, placing a hand gently on his back. “Just tell us what you remember. You already know more than anyone else.”

Aang smiles brightly at her and launches into his explanation. “Ok, so the story is there’s a day that the spirit world comes real close to our world, and spirits can pass through and visit, but only for one night. So to avoid being meddled with by spirits, people dress up as spirits or creatures so that we blend in. As a kid, making and wearing costumes was all we thought about for the whole month! And on the night, adults would give us ‘offerings’ of sweets and candies! We’d keep the fires lit all night and basically partied!”

“So it’s like a spirit costume party?” Toph asks, seeming a little confused.

Aang nods vigorously. “Where you can eat all the candy you want!”

“I’m in,” Toph raises a hand as if voting. “My parents  _ never _ let me eat candy.” 

Zuko’s hand continues scribbling words onto parchment as he nods. “And what day would this spirit night fall on?” He turns his little desk calendar to face Aang and gestures at it.

Aang hops over and peers at the little stand of paper. He points out a date two and a half weeks from now. “It’s this day.” 

Zuko’s eyes widen. “Why-- You-- You should have told me sooner! I need to start making preparations now!”

Aang’s eyes light up. “Are we really having Halloween in the Fire Palace? Can we have a bonfire?” 

Zuko starts to look dangerously stressed. “We need to order costumes. And sweets. Are there decorations, do we need decorations? What kind of food should we prepare!?” 

“Woah, hey, slow down there, buddy,” Sokka interjects, putting a hand on Zuko’s shoulder. “It’s not like you gotta invite the whole fire nation. We can celebrate it, just us and some friends, how about that?”

Zuko nods slowly, pulls out a new piece of parchment, and begins scrawling a guest list and a list of staff and people needed. “We just need to send costume orders to the palace seamstresses as soon as possible. Does everyone know their measurements?”

Aang pouts a little at Zuko’s all-work attitude. “Y’know, half the fun of Halloween is making your own costume. I loved making Appa costumes out of bison wool with the monks, even if my arrow pattern always came out a little crooked.” 

“I did make a very good Painted Lady, even if I do say so myself,” Katara muses, twirling a strand of her hair. “Sokka, do you need help with your costume?”

“I’ll be a wolf spirit!” Sokka announces, posing dramatically. “I already know how to do the paint!”

They all look expectantly at Toph and Zuko. 

“Well, I’ll give the seamstresses my measurements then,” Toph says, gesturing in Zuko’s direction. 

Zuko nods, noting down one costume order for Toph. “They already know mine, so it should be fine then.” 

“You guys aren’t even going to  _ try _ to make costumes yourself?” Katara crosses her arms. “You could try working together.”

Toph waves a hand in front of her unseeing eyes. “We’re two noble children with one good eye between us. I’ve never sewn a stitch a day in my life and I doubt Sparky here has either.”

Zuko glances sheepishly at Aang. “Is it against the rules to have our costumes made for us?”

Aang shakes his head. “There aren’t any rules, I just want you guys to have fun with it! Wait no, I have one rule: you can’t come as the blue spirit. That’s too easy.”

“Why not?” Sokka shrugs. “It’s a sexy outfit.”

Katara shoots him a disgusted look. “I’m sure there are other spirits that don’t carry as many swords.”

“So this is like a ‘no knives’ type of party?” Zuko asks.

The group stares at him. Except Toph, of course.

“What the fuck kinda parties have you been attending, Sparky?” she laughs.

Zuko blushes, ducking his head as he scribbles on parchment. “I’ll let Mai and Azula know.”

Sokka nods seriously. “I’ll pass the message onto Suki and Ty Lee.” 

____

In the days leading up to the awaited Halloween party, the guests help each other with their costumes, except those who want to keep theirs a secret until the event. Only Suki knows what Toph’s costume is, as the blind girl had enlisted her help in the face paint. No one knows what Mai and Azula are dressing as, only that it will be something matching and sinister.

“What’s the point if it’s not scary?” Azula asked after hearing an explanation of what Halloween entails. Mai had smirked in agreement and whispered something in her ear before the two ran off to also prepare.

Suki and Ty Lee would also be in matching costumes, the others have surmised, although as to what elaborate gowns Ty Lee is insisting on, they don’t know, as they watch her run the palace seamstresses ragged with her requests. Suki only smiled in amusement and obediently let the tailors fix the fabrics to her body.

No one knows what Zuko’s costume is going to be. Between Firelord duties and preparing for Halloween, they hardly get to see him at all. 

“Probably something elaborate with a mask,” Azula comments casually over tea one afternoon. “He’s such a theatre nerd.”

“I hope he hasn’t forgotten himself while preparing for us,” Aang worries.

“I sure am _ looking forward _ to it,” Toph cackles sarcastically.

“Whatever it is, be nice about it. Zuko’s a sensitive boy,” Ty Lee insists.

“He’s the  _ Firelord _ ,” Katara looks at her in disbelief. 

“The two aren’t mutually exclusive,” Mai mumbles, taking a sip of tea. 

___

Although perhaps they are right to be worried, for on the night of Halloween, when everyone else arrives in the wonderfully decorated dining hall, there is no sign of Zuko.

Aang is there, in his fluffy sky bison costume, the extra limbs waving by his sides. Katara makes a very striking Painted Lady, and Sokka, dressed in pelts and painted in blues, is indeed a very convincing wolf spirit.

Suki and Ty Lee are stunning in matching mermaid cut gowns sewn with scales and elaborate headdresses, and make a stunning pair as the spirits Tui and La. 

Toph follows with black and white face paint that is almost skull-like, her hair tied up in symmetrical buns. Her fluffy costume covers her hands but not her feet. 

“I’m Hei Bai!” she announces with a roar, stomping dramatically into the room and heading straight for the grand table laden with desserts and candy. 

Azula and Mai arrive in dark, floaty robes and ghoulish face paint. Their eyes have lenses that make them appear blank and softly glowing, adding to the terrifying effect.

“We’re dark spirits, of course,” Mai smiles ominously. 

Rather than being shaken, Aang applauds their commitment to the celebration and thanks them for their efforts, much to Azula’s annoyance. 

“Hey, where’s Sparky?” Toph asks between bites of sugar-glazed fruits. 

“Probably still putting on his costume,” Azula waves a blackened hand dismissively.

“He said we could have a bonfire later in the night,” Aang says with shining eyes. “Then we can tell spirit stories!”

At that moment, one of the double doors at the end of the hall drifts open with an ominous creak. The party looks over to see a tall, dark shadow enter, a pale, still face embedded in its darkness. 

There’s a moment of tense silence as the figure stands there for a moment.

“Uh, Zuko, buddy, is that you?” Sokka asks nervously, trying to lighten the mood.

Azula’s face splits into a terrifying grin of delight. “He’s dressed as a Kaonashi! Oh Zuzu, you dramatic fool, are you playing the part too?” 

Mai blinks in surprise. “The mask looks exactly like the one from the story. Did you have it made, Zuko?”

“Uh, what’s a Kaonashi?” Aang asks, stepping aside as the towering Zuko-spirit makes his way to the table beside Toph and begins grabbing sweets with black gloved hands and stuffing them into the black void of his costume. 

“It’s a No-Face spirit,” Ty Lee explains excitedly. “It’s featured in a story called Spirited Away that’s very popular in the Fire Nation. It was always my favorite character!”

“I thought you liked the dragon boy,” Mai comments dryly.

“I like both!”

The others nod along to the exchange between the Fire Nation girls, growing to understand Zuko’s costume. Azula had been right, his costume features a mask.

“What’s this costume made of, Sparky?” Toph asks, running her little sticky hands through the black, void-like fabric. “It’s making you all muffled, I can’t sense your movements inside.”

Zuko seems to turn his whole body towards her so that the big mask faces her. He says nothing, and presses a few pieces of elaborately made wagashi into her hands, then turns back to putting sweets away into the void of his costume. 

“Woah, buddy, you and Toph might wanna slow down there,” Sokka intervenes. “There isn’t gonna be any left for the rest of us!”

It’s a joke, an exaggeration, as the palace has prepared plenty of food for the celebration.

Even so, Zuko seems to go completely still, and makes a small, almost inaudible but definitely distressed sounding little “Ah.” He removes himself from the table and drifts across the room in his tall, heavy costume, and disappears out a side door. 

The others stand there in shock at the exchange and the Firelord’s sudden departure.

“I was just kidding!” Sokka sputters. “Did I hurt his feelings? Oh no, what did I do…”

“I told you he’s sensitive!” Ty Lee scolds him. 

“Uh, that was kind of weird, even for Zuko,” Mai says worriedly. 

The doors at the end of the dining room swing open once more and everyone turns, hoping Zuko has returned. Their mouths drop open when they see him.

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” Zuko puffs, striding purposefully into the room in long, red robes that trail behind him like a tail. A pair of folded wings are attached to his back and an extensively detailed crown and half-mask rests over his scarred face. “This dragon costume is a lot more complex than I had imagined. I’m definitely giving the tailors a bonus.”

He stares at his friends, growing anxious the longer they fail to greet him or comment on his costume.

Toph is the first to break the silence. “No fucking way.”

“How’d you manage a costume change so fast, Zuko?” Suki asks in utter confusion. 

Zuko tilts his head. “What do you mean? I’m late. I hope you haven’t all been waiting for me.”

Ty Lee’s hand drifts to her mouth in shock, and even Mai and Azula look disturbed.

“A-And the sweets you took?” Katara asks faintly.

“What are you talking about?” Zuko lifts his mask and squints his good eye at her. “I haven’t taken any sweets.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Toph says, looking rather pale. 

There’s a sudden and loud thud as Sokka faints, smacking into the ground. 

Zuko looks over in alarm. “Seriously, what’s going on!?”

Aang takes Zuko’s hands and smiles wide, his eyes shining in wonder. “Halloween is real.”


End file.
